Productivity is often grouped in with tools, organisation and information. All of these factors are important but sometimes productivity is simply about environment and comfort.
There can be a tendency to try and improve your productivity all while staring at a screen and willing the impossible. Where you’re working can be the issue, or crucially, the amount of time you’ve spent working there. The same spot day in day out can start to impact the quality of your work without you even realising.
Energy and focus can start to seriously plummet when you’re in the same environment for prolonged periods of time. Shaking things up and changing environment can have an amazing impact on your brain and the associations it makes with certain places. Even the act of getting up and changing to a different place can be enough to shift focus.
The value of flexible workspaces can’t be understated, especially for freelancers and startups. Having a combination of home working and office working during a working week can give your brain the mental stimulation and intervals needed to improve productivity.
Environment Influences Focus
Humans are complex creatures and we’re all very different. What might work for one person doesn’t for another, such as noise levels, temperature and lighting. These factors can all influence concentration and mental energy.
The same setting can become stale and boring, with days blurring into one. This can affect morale and productivity. Having a flexible office space for co-workers to chat and break up the day and tasks can be great for wellbeing and spark ideas too.
Switching to another environment can be like a mental reset, helping to enhance focus and keep things interesting.
Different Spaces Support Different Tasks
A flexible office is great for different types of tasks too. Not everyone prefers a collaborative social environment for certain tasks that require intense focus, so it could be that certain environments are designed for specific tasks. The issue with many traditional office spaces is that it’s supposed to cater for everyone and everything.
Flexible environments allow people to choose to work in them when it benefits the task they’re working on.
For example:
- Quiet areas and home working can support deep focus and analytical work
- Open spaces and flexible working can help with collaboration and discussion
- Outdoor environments can improve mental clarity and reduce stress, so breaking up a day with this can be beneficial
Reducing Mental Fatigue
Changing environment doesn’t have to be about the place you’re working in either, it can be about what you do in between bursts of working and during breaks. Lots of people enjoy nature and can think more clearly after taking a walk or even moving to a different room/location.
A change can help to prompt new thoughts of perspectives on an issue.
The Rise of Flexible Workspaces
It can only be a good thing that businesses are now recognising that employees aren’t all the same and don’t all work to their full potential in the same ways either. Being stuck to one desk for eight hours a day can be mentally repetitive.
Having flexible offices with the option of hybrid working means people can honour collaborative and quiet ways of working in a way that works for them.
Productivity Is Not Just About Output
Improving productivity isn’t all about completing as many tasks as possible, it’s about creating the conditions to be focused, happy and more creative long-term.
Good environments and a variety of them, can support your goals and helps you to reduce mental fatigue, shift focus and stay creative.
Changing spaces and having the opportunity to work in different environments can be one of the most beneficial wellbeing initiatives a business puts in place.
For more info about flexible office options, get in touch with our team at Hyde Park House today.